Éamonn Fitzmaurice: from top to 12, how the dozen chasing Sam Maguire rank
SOME FETCH: Dublin’s Ciaran Kilkenny and Jordan Flynn of Mayo. Pic: Ryan Byrne, Inpho
REMAIN the market leaders and the team to beat. To win the All-Ireland any challenger will have to beat the current champions. Their trip to Dr Hyde Park Sunday will only strengthen them. They were tested to the max and, as always, someone found a way. This time it was Ciarán Kilkenny that stepped up to save the day. His fetch from Stephen Cluxton’s last kick out after Ryan O’Donoghue had kicked Mayo into the lead was outstanding and match-saving. The impact from the bench, while not as significant as six or seven years ago, is still vital. Jack McCaffrey was outstanding on his introduction and Paul Mannion also impacted. As Mayo showed it’s not all doom and gloom for the challengers though. They do look to be vulnerable defensively. They can be got it. For teams to do this they need to have enough ball though, which remains a challenge.
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